


Alien

by billyghosts



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Identity Reveal, Outer Space, Space Stations, danny doesn't know he's a halfa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 15:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30023700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billyghosts/pseuds/billyghosts
Summary: Ignoring his parents' pseudoscience after one of their inventions almost killed him at 14, Danny becomes an astronaut on the ISS. Then his spacesuit's helmet breaks.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 170





	Alien

Danny woke up during the thirteenth sunset of the day with an ache in his palms. He massaged the sore area as he had been doing every morning for the past week. He thought, not for the first time, that he needed to tell NASA about this development, even if it turned out to be nothing. He sighed, deciding again to keep the pain to himself. It was probably nothing.

He unzipped his sleeping bag and let himself float away from the wall of the ISS. He grinned, pain forgotten. Every day for the past month he felt an excitement so pure and absolute that nothing else mattered. He had been in space for an entire month as of today. The ache in his palms returned with a vengeance. If he hadn’t been flying around the Earth at 27,580 km/h, it would have brought him to his knees.

He cursed his luck. Why had the pain come back now? It hadn’t been this bad since he was fourteen when he’d almost electrocuted himself in their latest stupid pseudoscience contraption. They’d taken him to a million doctors, claiming their “portal” would have given him ecto-radiation. And of course, the doctors had found nothing wrong with him. For months after the accident, his palms had ached terribly, but even his pain wasn’t enough to stop them from working on their nonsense. Did they have any idea how humiliating it was to be an astronaut with parents who refused to even accept science?

“Fenton!” Angie Simmons shouted, snapping him out of his pain-induced trance, “Are you eating before we go out or not? It’s the big day. Or did you forget again?”

“Yeah, sorry. I just got lost for a second.” Danny smiled at Simmons. Today was the day of the spacewalk. Of Danny’s spacewalk. He was going outside of the station. It was a simple job. He and Simmons needed to prep the station for solar array upgrades and perform maintenance on the cooling system.

“Are you okay, man? You’ve been getting lost like that a lot recently. We need you on top of it. I need you on top of it. Besides, if you get lost, who am I supposed to make fun of Johnson to?”

“I heard that!” Marc Johnson shouted from the galley.

“You were supposed to!”

“So, food?” Danny said.

“Food,” Simmons agreed, “Looks like we have to eat with Johnson though.” She stuck her finger in her open mouth, pretending to vomit at the idea.

Danny was a nervous ball of energy as he prepared his meal. He was going into space. It was just going to be a thick blanket of fabric keeping him from the vacuum. They had prepped for a million ways a spacewalk could go wrong. Danny knew the risks, but he found that he couldn’t care with the excitement building under his skin. He shoved food into his mouth.

“Eating faster doesn’t actually make the spacewalk come sooner you know,” Johnson quipped.

“Oh, buzz off,” Danny said with a mouth full of food.

“Yeah, Johnson,” Simmons teased, “who invited you?”

“I was in the galley first. Also, I out-rank you. You two have been here only a month.”

“We get it. You’re old.”

“Waa-waa, little baby can’t handle sharing the galley.”

“No need to talk in the third person, Johnson,” Danny said, sending the other two into a fit of laughter. Simmons punched him in the arm, still laughing.

“Ready for today?” she asked.

“I’ve always been.”

* * *

Everything was just as amazing as Danny had imagined. Flying above Earth, zipping across entire countries in minutes. None of the borders mattered anymore. It was all just Earth. Danny forced himself to look towards the station. It was going to be about a six-hour walk; there was no rush. He performed all his tasks will the intense concentration and knowledge that had been trained into him for years. This was exactly where he was meant to be.

Simmons worked with him, their fun banter easily translating into serious work discussions, helping each other with the necessary modifications as they floated next to each other. It was almost like meditation. The dead silence of space, doing the tasks he’d done a million times back on Earth. Danny couldn’t remember a more relaxing time. Until—

“Duck!” Simmons shouted through the comms. Danny turned to look at her, not comprehending. Then, something slammed into his face. It hurt. A lot.

He felt blood on his face. That wasn’t good. His head must have gotten knocked around in his helmet. He brought one hand up to his head out of habit. Only…when he pressed his gloved hand to what should have been the glass of his helmet, he felt the curve of his nose. He pulled his hand away in confusion and saw blood on the white hand.

_He’s dead. He’s dead. He is so dead._

But then, his lungs didn’t burst. His eyes didn’t boil. His organs didn’t rupture. His eardrums were fine. His blood didn’t boil. His heart didn’t stop. The pain in his palms spiked, then dissipated. He was fine. Somehow.

He could hear Simmons yelling in his ear, “Fenton’s suit is breached. We need to get him in the station _immediately._ ”

Then, Johnson, his voice was wobbly, “Simmons…all of Fenton’s vitals are flat. He’s gone. What the hell happened out there?”

“A rock.” She sounded like she was crying. Danny couldn’t get his thoughts together enough to tell her he was alive. How was he alive? “A tiny, little rock. That was it.”

“I’m opening the airlock. Bringing him in.”

Danny opened his eyes. His face was cold. Very cold. But he could see. He could feel. He must be alive unless this was the most convincing hallucination possible. He looked out to Earth. It was even more amazing to see without the glass between. He felt a pull on his arm, and he turned to look at Simmons.

“Danny?” she whispered, “What?” She blinked dramatically and shook her head. “I’m crazy. I’m hallucinating. I’m bringing you in.” She turned away from him and pulled him towards the airlock. “I’ve got him, Johnson.”

Danny let himself be dragged into the station. He heard the airlock hiss as they were reintroduced to the ISS air. He heard Simmons and Johnson talking, a muffled sob. Danny couldn’t tell which of them it was. He tried moving his arms up. Looking at the blood on his glove.

“Is he…moving?” Johnson said.

“No, I saw him out there. He was fully exposed.

“Look at him!” Johnson pointed. Danny looked up at him. “That man is alive.”

“Fenton?” Simmons approached him apprehensively.

“Hi,” he said, trying to grin. His face hurt.

“You were…I saw you! You were fully exposed for at least two minutes.”

“Well, I feel fine. I mean besides…” He waved to his face.

“I’m taking you to medical,” Johnson interrupted, “You should not be alive.”

“Maybe I’ve been an undercover alien this whole time.” Danny laughed, but Simmons and Johnson just stared at him. “Wait…you don’t think?”

“I don’t know what to think!” Simmons burst out, “I just watched my crewmate, my friend die, and now you are fine, standing in front of me with a bloody face and white hair.”

“What? White hair?” He took his glove off, running his hand through his blood-matted hair.”

“So tell me, what other explanation can you offer? You survived what no human should have! And you look… different now.”

“Different how?”

“I’ll show you in medical. Simmons, you can follow us if you want.” Johnson kept his grip firm on Danny. “I need to figure this out as soon as possible. As of right now, everyone on Earth will think you are dead.”

“Dude, tell them I’m fine!”

“How? They all saw you die on the live stream! What do you want me to say? No human could survive that.”

“Then what am I?” Danny asked, hovering as Johnson took his heart rate. He moved the cold stethoscope over Danny’s undershirt.

“Take this off.” Johnson tugged at Danny’s shirt. Danny obeyed. As the shock wore off, he started to really feel his situation. There was no way he was a normal person. There was no way he was human. He had just been in the vacuum of space for two minutes with no ill effects. He looked up into the mirror that Simmons held up to him, and fought back a sob. His eyes glowed florescent green, his hair was pure white, and his skin was a subtle blue. He had a gash in his cheek where the rock had hit him.

“What the hell?” Johnson muttered, “I can’t find your heartbeat.”

“Take his blood pressure.”

“Who’s the doctor here Simmons? But yes, I will try blood pressure.”

Danny felt his arm being squeezed painfully, he just stared at the wall, trying not to think about his situation. What was he supposed to do?

“Well, Fenton…you are officially pronounced dead.”

“What?”

“I can’t find your heartbeat, your blood pressure is practically zero, yet here you are, walking around. Doesn’t make any sense.”

“What do we tell NASA?” Simmons said, “A thousand people just saw a man die live, and millions more will see it soon.”

“We have to tell them that he’s alive, but how do we say that without sounding insane?”

Danny buried his face in his hands, letting Johnson and Simmons plan their message to NASA. His life was over. He was going to be experimented on for the rest of his life. The dead man who survived the vacuum of space. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that? He pulled his hands away from his face, finding a mix of blood red and glowing green sticking to is his left hand.

“Danny,” Simmons said gently, resting her hand on his shoulder, “It is up to you, but how would you feel about lying to NASA a little bit?”

“We can tell them that the camera made it look worse than it was. Your helmet cracked, you get cut from your head hitting the inside of your helmet. We got you inside before the crack could progress,” Johnson said.

“Fenton, no one has to know,” Simmons added, “This can stay between us.”

“Provided you let me see what kind of alien you are,” Johnson joked.

Danny laughed nervously. “That sounds…thank you. I thought…I don’t want to be stuck in a lab at NASA my entire life.”

“You’re our friend. We don’t want you stuck in a lab either.”

“Do you really think I’m…an alien?”

“I don’t know what you are.” Johnson pulled Danny into a hug with Simmons. “But we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want me to continue this or have an idea of how I could continue this, please let me know.


End file.
